Durham, NC – Florida State sophomore Shane Robinson has accepted an invitation to participate in the 2005 USA Baseball National Team Trials. Robinson is one of 13 players invited in the first group of collegiate players. He will try to become the first Seminole to play for Team USA since Doug Mientkiewicz in 2000.

“This is a huge honor,” said Robinson. “Every kid dreams of playing for their country and it is an amazing opportunity to get a shot at fulfilling that dream. My focus right now is on Florida State and helping this team reach our goals but it is great to look forward to this summer and competing with the best players in America.”

Robinson is one of three ACC players to be among the first group of invitees. He is joined by Miami’s Jon Jay and Georgia Tech’s Matt Wieters. The SEC leads all conferences with four players invited including Brian Jeroloman from the University of Florida. Florida colleges led the way with three of the first 13 invitees. The 2005 USA Baseball National Team Trials will be held June 27-30 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The USA Baseball National Team will be selected from a pool of 36 players, of which an additional 23 have yet to be determined. The official 20-man team roster will be announced on July 1.

“The National Team is defined by athlete performance in the college game,” said USA Baseball General Manager of National Teams Eric Campbell. “This short list of invitees to the trials represents non-draft eligible players who’s 2005 performance on the field has warranted an invite to the trials. This is a great group of players.” USA Baseball will announce a second list of invitees to the trials in late May, and a final list of invitees in June.

The 2005 USA Baseball National Team will participate in the 34th Annual USA vs. Japan Collegiate Championship Series in Japan, July 8-12 and a Friendship Series vs. Taiwan in Chinese Taipei, July 15-19 prior to returning home to play six exhibition games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park this summer, July 22-24 & July 29-31. USA Baseball will announce a full National Team game schedule at a later date.

The Seminoles then return to action tonight in Gainesville for the rubber match of the three game series with the third-ranked Gators (31-12). The game is slated for a 6:30 p.m. start and will be shown live on Sun Sports. Game Tracker will be available for all this year’s games along with Steve Melewski’s live radio broadcast available on WFLA locally and on the Internet at seminoles.com.